Entries in Bomb Threat
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A trio of universities were disrupted by violent threats this morning although all three campuses were later determined appear to be safe, according to the schools.

University of Texas president William Powers, Jr., said today that the school was "extremely confident" that the campus was safe and free of explosive devices as of 1 p.m. today, following a bomb threat placed to the school around 8:30 a.m.

Shortly after the University of Texas announced its bomb threat, North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., announced that it too had been the target of a bomb threat and was evacuating students. A third university, Valparaiso University in Indiana, announced that it had received a violent threat as well in the form of a graffiti message.

All three campuses have since been cleared. Officials said they do not yet know if the threats are related.

"There was always a question about the credibility of the threat. As you know there was a threat in North Dakota as well, so our evaluation continued, but we could not assure ourselves that this was not a credible threat, so we thought the prudent thing to do was clear the buildings," Powers said at a news conference today.

Around 8:30 a.m., the university received a phone call from someone with a Middle-Eastern accent who made an unspecific threat saying there were explosives in buildings on campus that would go off within 90 minutes to two hours, the university said. According to one message sent by the university to students, the man identified himself as part of Al Qaeda.

The university investigated the threats to evaluate their credibility before deciding to evacuate the campus buildings as a precaution, Powers said. Students were notified shortly before 10 a.m. to evacuate campus buildings.

Law enforcement officials then swept each building on campus to ensure that it was clear of any threats, Powers said.

Powers appeared along with the mayor of Austin, Lee Leffingwell, and chief of campus police, Robert Dahlstrom.

"We are very confident from working with state officials, our officials, and federal officials, we can't go into the details of why we know this, but we are extremely confident that the campus is safe," Powers said.

North Dakota State also cleared its buildings and residence halls of students, warning them that a bomb threat had been called into the school. Authorities there, aided by FBI officials, swept that campus to ensure there was no danger before reopening the campus this afternoon.

In Indiana, Valapraiso University also sent out an alert to students notifying them that a unspecified threat that might pose a danger to students during campus chapel time, around 11:15 a.m. The threat was made through graffiti, according to the school.

All three campuses announced that their schools were safe and clear of threats by 1:30 p.m.

The FBI said that it was helping local authorities investigate the threats and whether there was a connection among them.

In Texas, an FBI spokesman said that no arrests had been made yet but that law enforcement authorities were aggressively searching for the culprit.

"We are aggressively looking for this individual. We take these things pretty seriously for obvious reasons of public panic, the response of local authorities and that cost. We treat every one of these as if they're real until we know they are not," Erick Vasys.

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(SAN ANTONIO) -- San Antonio International Airport was evacuated when officials there received a “very specific threat” by phone early Wednesday afternoon, an airport spokesman said.

The threatening caller identified specific locations and a specific number of devices, airport spokesman Rich Johnson told ABC News – prompting a response from local law enforcement officials and the FBI.

The airport is comprised of two terminals, both of which were evacuated on Wednesday. Terminals A and B were searched and eventually cleared of any threat, according to ABC News affiliate KSAT-TV. Three vehicles were also swept and cleared by authorities.

ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- A foiled al Qaeda bomb plot meant to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death did not endanger any American lives, President Obama said, adding that he was “on top of this the entire time.”

“I was briefed on this in April,” Obama told ABC News’ Robin Roberts in an exclusive interview. “At no point were American lives in danger or American aircraft in danger.”

While Obama would not comment on the specifics of the operation, he stressed in his first public comments on the case that the U.S. is “learning lessons” from the intercepted explosive device, now in FBI custody.

“I don’t think it should be any surprise,” Obama said of reports of a new wave of al Qaeda bomb makers determined to take down an American airliner.

“I’ve been very clear that, even with the death of Bin Laden, even as weakened as al Qaeda is, if you have a bunch of extremists who are adamant about trying to kill civilians then we are going to have to maintain constant vigilance and create a whole series of layers of protection and barriers,” he said.

“And, you know, fortunately, what we’ve seen is constant improvement on the part of our law enforcement, our military [and] our intelligence officers that allows us to be able to prevent the kind of attack that we just saw,” the president added.

Obama warned against complacency, telling Roberts that the nation’s security apparatus will have to “just keep on working as hard as we can to make sure that folks don’t get hurt.”

On Monday, the government announced it had successfully thwarted a plot by a Yemen-based al Qaeda terrorist who had planned to use a modified underwear bomb to destroy a U.S.-bound commercial airplane.﻿

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images(SAN FRANCISCO) -- The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in a Monday night football game, 20-3, but that wasn't the big story.

Right before the game started, San Francisco's Candlestick Park was plunged into darkness because of a transformer blow-out.

When power was restored after a brief delay, the game got underway. But just as things were heating up in the second quarter, the lights went out again at Candlestick, forcing another delay.

Talk buzzed around the stadium about a possible postponement until the lights came back on. The teams were able to finish the half and the rest of the game was played without incident.

However, after everyone had gone home, San Francisco police revealed that a bomb threat had been called in before the coin toss to start the game. Following a quick hunt for a possible "explosive" device, cops determined that the threat wasn't credible.

Hemera Technologies/Thinkstock edit Delete caption(SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.) -- California's San Clemente High School was evacuated on Wednesday, the first day of school, due to a bomb threat that apparently originated at Camp Pendleton.

A message on the school’s website reads, “Orange County Sheriff’s officers are investigating a bomb threat at San Clemente High School.”

The sheriff’s officers requested that the entire SCHS staff and student body be evacuated to the stadium after it was inspected and deemed safe.

Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman, Jim Mormino, told ABC that the written threat was discovered among the personal belongings of a missing soldier at Camp Pendleton.

Medioimages/Photodisc/Thinkstock(ARLINGTON, Va.) -- A US Airways plane was deemed clear by FBI officials after landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Sunday afternoon following a bomb threat.

According to authorities, a verbal bomb threat was made regarding US Airways flight 2596 at a ticket counter in Dayton, Ohio -- where the plane originated. Citing an FBI spokesperson, ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. reports that Dayton Airport Police have taken the woman who allegedly made the threat into custody on a "mental health hold." No charges have been filed against her.

The bomb threat was received while the plane was approaching its destination, Reagan National Airport. Upon landing safely, all 44 passengers on board were bused from the airplane to the terminal.

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.) -- A Spirit Airlines jet from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Atlanta returned to the gate before takeoff Saturday evening after someone found a threatening note in a seatpocket.

The note apparently claimed there was a bomb on board the plane. None was found after crews searched the aircraft.

The flight ultimately made its way to its intended destination. It is not known who wrote the note or how it came to be in the seat pocket.

Smith Lab was one of four buildings searched by authorities Tuesday at Ohio State University. Photo Courtesy -- The Ohio State University (COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Public safety officials have completed the search of two of the four Ohio State University buildings that were mentioned in a bomb threat Tuesday morning.

Searches of McPherson Chemical Lab and Smith Laboratory turned up no evidence of a device and have been re-opened.

The FBI alerted campus police at 8:19 a.m. EST Tuesday of bomb threats received for The William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library, McPherson Chemical Lab, Smith Laboratory and Scott Laboratory. All four buildings were evacuated.

University public safety officials alerted the campus community of the threat via text messages sent at 8:41 a.m., advising them to steer clear of the buildings.

The FBI and Columbus Fire Department bomb squad continue to investigate the threat.